While I am not a union
stage hand, I do occasionally work with an
IATSE crew. We have a group renting our
amphitheatre next week. If I remember correctly, their crew is from the Local 504 in Orange County, CA. This will be the fifth time they've used our facilities in the nine years I've been on staff. Except for one or two of the
stage hands they've brought in for their shows, I've found them to be a highly professional and hard working bunch, though a little too rigid in when they take their breaks. I've even learned a thing or three from watching these crews in action.
I've only had two minor issues regarding the union crews. The first was with an individual on a crew I worked with several years ago who simply would not stop complaining about how unfair the union was to the
stage hands and how over worked they were. He was the only member of that crew complaining at all. He also happened to be the only
stage hand on that crew who was not pulling his own weight. He reminded me of a member of the
Pageant's
stage crew who did nothing but complain while doing half the work of anyone else on the crew. Union or non-union, it's been my observation that the biggest whiners on a crew are usually the ones who aren't doing their jobs.
The other issue was with a show this group did last year. When the
IATSE crew reached their assigned break time, one of them noticed that I was still working and told me that I had take my break now. I simply pointed out to him that I was with the
house, and did not work for his group, and therefore was not required to take a break at that time, and that I would take my lunch when I got hungry. The
IATSE stage hand was a little embarrassed, I got a
bit of a laugh out of the situation, and that was the end of it.
Twice the Orange County Local has offered me union membership, and I've had to turn them down both times. The first time, I was fresh off a serious knee injury, and simply not capable of doing the work. The second time, last year, I told them that while I appreciated the offer, I was simply too busy at the
Pageant to work for them too.
I'm looking forward to this
IATSE crew's
return to my facility, as I had a good time working with them last year, and I think they enjoyed working with me. We operate a little differently, as they are used to operating as a team, and I am used to operating, for most of the year, as a crew of one. But the
IATSE style seems to mesh well with my own when they come to my
venue.